Apparatus for brushing a strip



Jan. 9, 1951 c. J. KLEIN APPARATUS FOR ERUSHING A STRIP Filed March 11, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 9, 1951 c. J. KLEIN 2,537,675

APPARATUS FOR BRUSHING A STRIP Filed March 11, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO Clarence J K/ em Jan. 9, 1951 c, KLElN 2,537,675

APPARATUS FOR BRUSHING A STRIP Filed March 11, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet a Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS roe BRUSHING A STRIP Clarence .I. Klein, Marland Heights, W. Va., assignor to National Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application March 11, 1947, SerialNo. 733,789

7 Claims. 1

Myinvention relates to apparatusfor brushing strip or sheet material and, more particularly, to a mounting for a rotary brush with provision for controlling the pressure exerted by the brush on the sheet material.

In the continuous processing of sheet material such as steel strip. it is desirable at certain stages .to. clean the material with rotary. brushes in order to remove loose scale and dirt. For satisfactory cleaning it is important that the brush exerts just the proper pressure on the material. Excessive pressure will cause bending of the bristles of the brush so that they are dragged over the surface of the work and produce a rub- ,bing action rather than the desired brushing action. This increases the wear on the. bristles and correspondingly shortens the life of the brush. With the correct pressure, only the ends of the bristles will strike the work and efiicient brushing action will result. The exact pressure required for efllcient brushing varies with the speed of the brush and the character of both the bristle material and the material to be removed by the brush.

I have invented a novel mounting for rotary brushes whereby they may be caused to exert just the right pressure on the material at all times. In a preferred embodiment, I provide a rotary brush cooperating with a roll or other traveling support for the strip to be cleaned which passes between the brush and the roll. The brush is journaled in bearing arms pivoted on an axis parallel to out ofiset from the brush. I provide, a counterbalance lever rigid with. the hearing arms for holding the brush against the. strip. with. the

a desired pressure, and means for moving the brush away from the strip when desired as for the purpose of threading a fresh length of strip between the brush and the roll.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment. In the drawings,

.strip travels.

strip.

or cleaning line. In any event, the plates It and H are such as to, constitute a rigid supporting frame. The plates have notches l2 and i3 therein.

A bottom support roll I4 is mounted on a shaft 25. The shaft i5 is iournaled in bearings l6 seated in notches l2.

A rock shaft ii is journaled in bearings I8 secured to the side plates adjacent the notches l2. Bearing arms l5 and 2B are secured to opposite ends of the rock shaft and have bearings 21 seated therein. A rotary brush 22 has a spindle 23 journaled in the bearings 24. A. counterbalance lever 25 has a counterweight 25 adjustable therealong and is connected to the bearing arms 19 and 20 by being secured to one end of the rock shaft ll. Set screws 2%- permit the counterweight .to be clamped in any desired position on the lever 24.

It will be apparent that strip designated S,

passing between the roll M and brush 22 will, be

efiectively cleaned on its upper surface if the brush is driven at an appropriate speed. Both the shaft 15 of the roll It and the spindle 23 of the brush 22v are adapted to be coupled to suitable driving means. The roll is driven at a peripheral speed corresponding to that at which the strip is advanced. The brush is driven at a peripheral speed greater than that at which the The brush may be driven in the reverse direction relative to the travel of the In that case, its speed need not be so great. The brush drive preferably includesa .fiexible coupling to permit movement of the brush away from and toward the path of the strip.

The brush 22 is urged against the strip by a force equal to the product of the effective weight 'of the brush, its bearings and the arms id and 2 by its moment arm about the axis of the rock shaft ll, less thev product of the effective weight of the lever arm 24 and counterweight 25. by its moment about thesame axis. The exact pressure exerted by the brush onthe strip, therefore,

may be controlled by adjusting the, counterweight to the proper position along the lever arm. If a relatively light pressure is desired, the counterweight is adjusted along arm 24 away from the shaft I? so that the counterweight nearly counterbalances the brush, its bearings and thebearing arms. If a heavier pressure is desired, the

weight 25 should be adjusted along, arm 2A toward the shaft i? to reduce the counterbalancing force.

I provide power means in the form of a flu d,- pressure cylinder and piston 23 for raising the brush 22 when desired as in the: case Of threading a fresh strip between the brush and the roll. The cylinder is pivoted to a bracket 28 mounted on the side plate H and has its piston rod pivoted to the bearing arm 29 at 29. In addition to raising the brush when threading a fresh strip, the cylinder may have fluid trapped on both sides of the piston to damp any tendency of the brush to bounce or vibrate during normal operation when strip is passing between it and the roll.

A back-up roll 39. is journaled in bearings seated in the notches it for cooperation with a rotary brush 3! generally similar to the brush 22, the only difference being that roll 30 is above the brush 3! and that the latter engages the lower surface of the strip. The counterweight 25 for the brush 3!, of course, is positioned to overcome the weight of the brush, its bearings and supporting arms and cause the brush to exert the desired upward pressure against the strip.

Side guards 32 are spaced inwardly of the walls and ii and a hood 33 extends therebetween forming an enclosure for the brushes. The hood is removed in Figures 1 and 3. A tube 3% surrounds the shaft l'i between the side guards.

It will be apparent that my invention is characterized by several advantages. In the first place, it permits the rotary brushes to be urged against the strip under precisely the exact pressure necessary to produce the most effective brushing action. It also makes possible the retraction of the brushes to facilitate the entry of a fresh length of strip. In addition, the apparatus is relatively simple and inexpensive in construction and does not introduce any difficulty by Way of maintenance or operation. As illustrated, the structure involved is such as to permit brushes to be located above and below the path of the strip whereby both surfaces may be cleaned continuously without changing the direction of strip travel My invention permits the brushes to be readily reversed and individually driven at varying speeds depending upon the nature of the strip, although they are preferably operated at peripheral speeds in excess of that of the strip. Any suitable drive for the brushes may be employed. The back-up rolls are driven independently of the brushes since they operate at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the linear speed of the strip.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising means disposed along and at one side of such path in position to engage a surface of such moving strip and confine the strip to said path, bearing arms pivotally supported on an opposite side of said path, a rotary brush journaled in said arms for engaging the opposite surface of the moving strip, and counterbalance means connected to at least one of said arms and causing the brush to engage said opposite surface of the moving strip with a predetermined pressure under the influence of gravity.

bearing arms mounted on said shaft and pivotally movable in an arc about the axis of said shaft, a rotary brush journaled in the arms in position to engage the opposite surface of the strip, a counterbalance lever rigid with at least one of said arms, and a counterbalance weight adjustable along said lever for causing the brush to exert a predetermined pressure against the strip under the influence of gravity.

3. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising means disposed along and at one side of such path in position to engage a surface of such moving strip to confine the strip to said path, counterbalanced bearing arms pivotally supported on opposite side of said path, a rotary brush journaled in said arms for engaging the opposite surface of the moving strip, and means for pivotally moving the arms to move the brush toward and away from the strip.

4. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising a roll journaled in fixed bearings and disposed at one side of such path in position to engage a surface of the moving strip, a shaft parallel with said roll and disposed in the opposite side of said path, counterbalanced bearing arms mounted on said shaft and pivotally movable in an are about the axis of said shaft, a rotary brush journaled in the arms in position to engage the opposite surface of strip, and power-actuated means for pivotally moving the arms about said shaft axis to move the brush toward and away from said opposite surface of the strip and said roll.

5. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising means disposed along and at one side of such path in position to engage a surface of such moving strip and confine the strip to said path, bearing arms pivotally supported on an opposite side of said path, a rotary brush journaled in said arms for engaging the opposite surface of the moving strip, counterbalance means connected to at least one of said arms and causing the brush to engage said opposite surface of the moving strip with a predetermined pressure under the influence of gravity, and means for pivotally moving the arms to move the brush toward and away from the strip.

6. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising a roll journaled in fixed bearings and disposed at one side of such path in position to engage a surface of the moving strip, a shaft parallel with said roll and disposed on the opposite side of said path, bearing arms mounted on said shaft and pivotally movable in an are about the axis of said shaft, a rotary brush journaled in the arms in position to engage the opposite surface of the strip, a counterbalance lever rigid with at least one of said arms, a counterbalance weight adjustable along said lever for causing the brush to exert a predetermined pressure against the strip under the influence of gravity, and power-actuated means for pivotally moving the arms about said shaft axis to move the brush toward and away from said opposite surface of the strip and said roll.

7. Apparatus for brushing a strip as it is moved along a path, said apparatus comprising a first roll journaled in fixed bearings and disposed along such path in position to engage a surface of the strip, a second roll journaled in fixed bearings disposed along said path in position to engage an opposite surface of the strip, said rolls being spaced apart along said path, a shaft parallel with each roll and disposed on the opposite side of said path from the corresponding roll, a set of bearing arms mounted on each shaft and pivotally movable in an are about the axis of the shaft, a rotary brush journaled in each set of arms in position to engage the strip passing between the brush and the corresponding r011, counterbalance means connected to each set of arms and causing the respective brush to engage the strip with a predetermined pressure under the influence of gravity, and independent, power-actuated means for pivotally moving each set of arms about the corresponding shaft axis to move -the respective brush toward and away from the strip.

CLARENCE J. KLEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

